A picture that we have seen ad nauseam appears to have been corrected to make it more historically accurate.
The German newspaper, Die Tageszeitung got it right. The photo now shows Shaker Wahib al-Fahdawi, field commander of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an al-Qaeda splinter group.
He’s the newest Bad, Bad Leroy Brown of the religious right, see of Baghdad. A 27-year old former computer science major, he was captured by US forces in 2006 but was part of the group of 110 that escaped escaped during an air raid. He appears to be the only one that does not cover his face as he executes fellow Muslims for being of the wrong sect.
There is a video of Leroy killing 3 of 4 Syrian truck drivers. He questioned them about Islam then, deciding only one was a Sunni, he executed the other 3 on the side of the road. He judged them to be Alawites, a sect associated with the Shia. Below are two still photos from that video.
This offshoot of al-Qaeda intends to establish a caliphate consisting of Iraq and Syria. Just like their Bible-thumping, fundamentalist brethren in the good old US of A, they never let the actual teachings of their holy script interfere with their hate.
The Quran could not be any clearer. “And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein; and the Wrath and the Curse of Allah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him.” (4:93). The Prophet said, “A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands.” Again, the Prophet stated, The Prophet said, “Abusing a Muslim is Fusuq (an evil doing) and killing him is Kufr (disbelief).”
Let’s deconstruct this “goal” of a caliphate to include those 2 countries. Hussein was a Sunni. Though a minority in a majority Shia country, the Sunni ruled Iraq. That did not please the majority. The Shia-associated Alawites are a minority in Syria but the Alawite Bashar al-Assad rules. So, this offshoot of al-Qaeda is nominally Sunni, which are a majority in Syria, and a more pronounced minority in Iraq. Being a majority in Syria and a minority in Iraq would leave them as a minority in their own caliphate.
Iran is far more populated than those two combined. Being almost totally Shia, they will not stand by and allow ISIS to subjugate their fellow Shia. The Sunni would be so heavily outnumbered as to render the prospective caliphate a total fantasy.
However, they are still a force to be dealt with. Some 800 to 1,000 (out of a total force of 6-7,000) caused 30,000 government troops (equipped and trained by the US) to drop their weapons, shed their uniforms and run. Our government wanted to leave a few thousand troops indefinitely. The Shia government refused. Now they are asking for us to salvage the mess we made. Senator John McCain and the other bloodthirsty clowns that got us involved before are pushing once again for US forces in Iraq. Surprise, surprise.
True, the instability in Iraq should be lain at our feet. But, that doesn’t mean we can rescue them. Also, we should have learned our lessons. It is still true that two wrongs don’t make it right and two idiotic mistakes won’t constitute a neo-conservative success.
Ayman al-Zawahiri is the current leader of al-Qaeda. He formed this group being led by Shaker Wahid. Last year Al Jazeera came into possession of a letter and recording from Zawahiri disbanding this group. They failed to take the hint. Both Zawahiri and Wahid are Sunni. The Sunni in Syria and Western Iraq are presently supporting them. They once supported Zawahiri but they eventually turned away from such a brutal madman. Wahid is considered even more brutal and madder. They will turn on him in the future.
The Kurds have no interest in any caliphate. They want their own country, The Turks likely prefer to be reattached to Turkey. The entire country is disintegrating.
The playing field is too treacherous. The players are too crazy. The dynamics are too complex for us to be making another stupid mistake. The fact that McCain and his clique of clowns want to return to that quagmire tells you all you need to know.
My rough translation of the upper right-hand note on the newspaper reads as: Iraq: Eleven years after the US victory celebration Islamists conquer rough parts of the country. The government calls for the defense of Baghdad. on pages 2,3.”
Disclosure: I take sides with neither Sunni nor Shia but my late wife was a Sunni from Ramallah in Palestine.
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